Many different types of dispensers have been provided to hold rolls of paper so that individual or multiple sheets of prescored paper may be separated from the roll for use. Paper towel holders usually provide a standard or mandrel on which the roll of towels is positioned. Holders that maintain the roll of paper towels and its core horizontally disposed are predominant. Previous arrangements utilizing horizontally disposed roll supports and suction cup elements for support of the mandrel are acknowledged, at least in the toilet paper dispenser categories. Paper towels present a separate and distinct problem by reason of the greater tearing force that must be applied to separate the towels from the roll and also by reason of the different characteristic user working positions when paper towels are to be used. Housewives and other users of paper towels can find it especially difficult to establish a convenient location for a towel dispenser of the type that holds the roll of towels in horizontal position. To provide desirable convenience of use and to avoid the cluttering of work spaces, rolls of paper towels are now often placed in upright position on countertops without support or confinement. This alternate loose countertop placement that can be handier and more convenient may still be troublesome, since two hands must be used to separate the towel segments from the roll.